


The Reason Is

by northofthehouse



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Romance, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23258683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northofthehouse/pseuds/northofthehouse
Summary: Chanyeol starts his night with a crush; he ends it with a boyfriend. Sort of.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Oh Sehun/Park Chanyeol, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	1. Every Day, Every Night, Feel Like a Fool

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted on AFF. (Possibly) Also a repeat post to AO3 from my previously orphaned account (I don't remember what I posted and what I didn't). Not plagiary!

Chanyeol's life used to be simple. Before Baekhyn, at least.

He went to class, ate instant ramyun for all four meals of the day, studied until his eyes nearly fell out, and low key loved Oh Sehun from across the campus—or the classroom, or the library, or the cafe. His schedule was full and there was no time in it for meeting people or making friends, which is why he was a junior but had never said a single word to his crush of three years. When Chanyeol was paired with Baekhyun for a group project, though, all of that changed.

"Come on, Yeol," Baekhyun challenged one afternoon when they'd already been working for a good three hours and had at least that many more to go before they finished. "How do you have fun if you don't have friends?"

For Chanyeol, fun was reading manhwa on weekends and balancing chemical equations during the week. Fun had nothing to do with other human beings, and the only way he even rationalized taking the time to continue guitar was that it would be a waste of an investment to stop playing now. That mindset absolutely appalled Baekhyun, who was a social butterfly with more friends than even a science and math genius like Chanyeol could count. Chanyeol's partner even knew about Sehun, and guaranteed that if Chanyeol started to hang with Baekhyun, he'd be hanging with his crush, too.

It was that promise which got Chanyeol out of his room on Saturday night to attend a small gathering in Baekhyun and Kyungsoo's apartment. There weren't enough people for it to be a party, so Baekhyun's friend Kai told Chanyeol when he walked in at least, but they'd still have fun, Kai was sure.

Fun. That seemed to be the word on everyone's lips; the buzzword of the night, so to speak. Baekhyun said it when he welcomed Chanyeol with a jovial "Hello, my chingu! Let's have some fun tonight!" Kyungsoo used it in his first time greeting, whispering "Oo, fresh meat. How fun!" under his breath before introducing himself to Chanyeol with a bow and a polite "Hello." Even the two quieter ones who sat next to each other yet with avoidant gazes on the couch emitted a monotone pair of "Fun" when Baekhyun dragged Chanyeol around the room to get acquainted.

The only person who didn't mention having fun in any form was also the only person Chanyeol had yet to formally meet: Oh Sehun. They'd exchanged courteous nods when Chanyeol had stumbled awkwardly through Baekhyun and Kyungsoo's front hallway, but had no chance to actually speak before the festivities began.

First there was beer; lots of it. In all his years as a college student, Chanyeol hadn't ever gone out partying because he hadn't had anyone to do that with, and as such he hadn't realized what he'd been missing until now.

"Oh, yeah?" One of the quieter ones teased—Suho, Chanyeol thought that one's name was—"Just wait until tomorrow morning, then we'll talk."

Chanyeol, though, had no comparative context for a hangover, and once a little tipsy he felt much more comfortable around all these new people than he had when he first arrived.

"I love making friends!" He crowed in raucous excitement, recognizing how embarrassed he'd be by his actions if sober, but at the same time rebelling in the fact that he wasn't sober so he didn't have to care.

Baekhyun laughed and Tao's high pitched giggle harmonized with his friend's amusement while Chanyeol noted with interest that Suho blushed brightly as soon as Tao began to laugh.

"In that case," Kyungsoo declared, riding the hype of Chanyeol's jubilant words to move the night along, "how do you feel about making out with friends?" He grinned devilishly and Chanyeol could see why Baekhyun sometimes referred to his flat mate as "Satan Soo" whenever he and Chanyeol got together for their project.

"Love it!" That's how tipsy Chanyeol felt too, but it was actually Kai who agreed to Kyungsoo's plan first, even before a still amused Baekhyun commanded "Truth or dare!"

Kai shrugged but never lost his grin, and shouted "Fun!" before taking another swig of his beer. There was that word again, yet without it Chanyeol was positive he'd never have agreed to play. Studious and boring Chanyeol was a cautious pre-med student, but tonight's Chanyeol was going to have a little careless fun, partly because he could and partly because Sehun was so effortlessly cool that Chanyeol wanted to show how much he, too, could be a badass.

Sehun, throughout all of this, had complained that Koreans are supposed to drink soju, not beer, but had happily accepted a bottle when Baekhyun smacked the back of their maknae's head and pointed out plainly, "Soju's expensive; beer is not." Chanyeol, who admittedly admired everything about his crush anyway, thought it unbelievably awesome and grown up that Sehun had alcohol quality standards, and had only taken a beer of his own once he saw Sehun take a sip. Likewise, excited about the opportunity to experience something new in the form of average university student drinking games as he was, Chanyeol did not make the decision to play until Sehun agreed first.

"You always want to play that," he muttered petulantly; Chanyeol thought it was adorable but Baekhyun repeatedly called Sehun a brat until he said "Fine, I'll do it!"

Almost immediately after, Chanyeol had bounced up and down in his spot on the floor between Kai and Baekhyun, nearly shouting in his eagerness to express "Me too! me too!"

"Well it looks like he's in," Kyungsoo observed drily with a smirk. That made Tao giggle again, and the infectious timbre of his laughter had everyone going such that it took another few minutes to calm the group down and get them focused again.

"Okay," Baekhyun began, suddenly looking fiercely determined in a way that Chanyeol was surprised to find really cute actually. "I'll start." He turned to Chanyeol, confident that the only way to truly experience this part of college life was to be fully and immediately immersed, but Chanyeol cut his project partner off before Baekhyjn could say another word.

"Wait, wait," he sounded suddenly panicked. "Aren't there supposed to be rules?" Chanyeol had seen enough teen movies and dramas to know about the rules.

Baekhyun sighed but exchanged a long look with Kyungsoo who just shrugged. "Ugh," Baekhyun groaned finally, "you take all the fun out of everything." Sober Chanyeol would have been offended, but heading-toward-drunk Chanyeol couldn't deny that most of the time Baekhyun's words were true.

"Fine," Baekhyun continued with a huff when his words made no impact and only got him a blank look from Chanyeol, "you want rules? Here they are: No passes."

"No take backs," Tao added.

Kai piped up too. "No repeats."

Suho said nothing, as did Kyungsoo, but Chanyeol was surprised when Sehun made his own contribution with "And no chickening out."

Chanyeol sarcastically saluted each of the ones who'd offered a truth or dare rule, winking when he got to Sehun because even if he broke all the others Chanyeol knew he would never, ever break Sehun's.

"Yessir," he deadpanned, for good measure and for a laugh, which he got from Tao, Baekhyun, and Suho, but only managed a little where Kai, Kyungsoo, and Sehun were concerned.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes but finally took the opportunity he'd lost before and opened their game with a toast to no one and a cheeky, "So, Chanyeol-ah, truth or dare?"


	2. If You Do

"Truth."

Chanyeol tried to say it confidently but he had begun to feel the cheapness of the beer as the chemicals lined his throat so it came out a lot more like a frightened squeak than he'd been hoping.

"Boring," Tao mocked but Suho shushed him with the slight pressure of a hand on Tao's thigh, and so Baekhyun continued as if he'd never been interrupted in the first place.

His grin was evil and all of a sudden the look in his new friend's eyes made Chanyeol very nervous. And with good reason because Baekhyun's next words were a smiling "If you could make out with anyone in this room, who would it be?"

Baekhyun already knew of course which is why Chanyeol felt compelled to answer with a shyly truthful "Um, Sehun-ssi," even though everyone who's played truth or dare knows that no one's ever that honest about it. Thankfully, Baekhyun's friends laughed and Sehun's cheeks tinged slightly pink but he brushed it off with another head nod at Chanyeol, who was now tasked with asking the next person.

He picked Sehun because he was ever aware of his crush anyway, and also because it seemed the logical choice given Chanyeol's answer.

"Truth or dare, Sehun-ssi?" Chanyeol asked this formally, which would have been strange if anyone were sober enough to point out that Chanyeol had easily slipped into banmal with the rest of them from the moment he arrived. As is, no one commented on it and Sehun was soon asked about his ideal type in response to his calm "Truth."

To everyone's, but especially Chanyeol's, disappointment Sehun remained as aloof and collected as he'd been the whole night, offering a curtly smug answer of "Male," before refusing to say anything more.

"Ey," Kai grumped at his friend and roommate, "this game's no fun for the rest of us if you're vague like that." Personally, Chanyeol agreed, but he'd discovered that Sehun was certifiably gay, at least, and that counted for something, right?

Sehun ignored Kai's remark, looking past the Kim boy to Suho to ask "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Suho's face was flushed—"Probably from adrenaline," Baekhyun whispered to Chanyeol—but he seemed confident in his choice and didn't complain too much when dared to sit in another player's lap for the rest of the game. When he did display a small moment of uncertainty, Sehun was there to direct him to Tao, thereby vacating Suho's spot on the couch for Sehun to take for himself.

"Cheater," Kai muttered lowly before throwing a pillow at his self-satisfied friend.

This behavior went on for a few rounds; Chanyeol generally chose truth, Sehun generally annoyed Kai, and the others generally enjoyed themselves by asking all sorts of invasive truth questions and inventing all manner of crazy dares.

Kyungsoo, for instance, who was dared to lick Kai's ear for a solid five seconds, didn't place his tongue anywhere expected and ended up sensuously tracing Kai's ear cavity while Baekhyun counted down the clock. Baekhyun, in turn, was asked to describe his most embarrassing sexual experience, and went into such graphically horrific detail that Tao, despite his body's reaction to still being seated under a squirming Suho, vowed to remain celibate forever. Tao was then dared to spell his name with his butt, which he did with a slew of cute butt wiggles before he dared Sehun to do a body roll off everyone in the room.

Miraculously Chanyeol didn't pass out when Sehun's warm body rippled sensuously against his own, but his courage in that moment was more or less a show of false bravado which ended the moment after Chanyeol then responded to Suho's prompt with his first ever "Dare." His regret was instantaneous, but as he'd been told, no take backs allowed.

"Kiss someone in the room, with tongue, for no less than 30 seconds." Suho heard Chanyeol's apprehensive intake of breath just as well as the others, but he was a take no prisoners type, and settling back into Tao's lap Suho could be seen grinning widely, clearly pleased with himself.

They'd been playing Truth or Dare for a while by this point, so everyone could tell that Chanyeol sort of liked Sehun, even Sehun himself. No one was ready, then, for Chanyeol's choice of kissing partner because the name he said when making his selection wasn't Sehun but a different one entirely.

"Baekhyun," Chanyeol declared with a confidence in his choice that no one else in the room understood. "I'll kiss Baekhyun."


	3. Home Run

"There's a reason, I swear!" This Chanyeol said when everyone in the room, including Baekhyun, shot him matching looks of disbelief and incredulity.

"And that would be...?" Baekhyun asked. He figured since he was the one who'd been unwittingly drawn into Chanyeol's dare, he deserved an answer.

Everyone else, apparently, felt differently. "Nuh-uh," Kai ordered, holding up a hand in Baekhyun's direction.

"Twas a dare," Kyungsoo agreed with the tan dancer. Chanyeol, who'd had a less than stellar first impression of Kyungsoo before that moment, silently thanked whoever was listening for putting such a great friend in his life. He had a reason, like he'd said he did, but he wasn't exactly keen on sharing it with the crowd. They'd laugh raucously at his expense, Chanyeol was sure of it. He thought longingly of his guitar and the safety of the chemistry textbooks strewn across his room; what he wouldn't give to be there just then.

"Ugh," Baekhyun groaned, pulling Chanyeol from his pleasant daydreams and back to the thoroughly embarrassing game. "Fine." He gestured to Chanyeol then seemed to think better of it and crawled through the circle to settle himself on Chanyeol's lap. "For better access," he told Chanyeol when the taller boy flushed a bright red and opened his mouth to protest.

Tao made a face of consideration that Chanyeol could only partially see past Baekhyun's face, which was slowly looming closer and closer to his own. "Seems legit," Tao commented before he turned to Suho, who was still in his lap, and suggested "How about it, babe?" The room laughed but Chanyeol couldn't relax, not with Baekhyun still inching toward him.

"Oh my god," a voice huffed. To everyone's surprise, it was Sehun who spoke. "Just kiss already."

And with a little help in the form of Kai's hand pressing Chanyeol's head forcefully in Baekhyun's direction, they did. "With tongue!" Kai crowed a reminder like he was the one who'd come up with the dare in the first place.

Baekhyun made a sound of annoyance but didn't move his lips away from Chanyeol's. Instead, he merely parted them a little wider so the room's occupants could crowd together and gawk as his tongue slipped into Chanyeol's mouth, curling into the cavity behind the other's teeth. Chanyeol, to his continued mortification, actually moaned, and then his own tongue was battling against Baekhyun's for dominance and his own taste of the inner spaces of Baekhyun's mouth.

It was hot, frankly, and Sehun surprised everyone yet again by saying so. When Kai raised an eyebrow at him, Sehun merely shrugged and said, "What? I see you hiding your hard-on under that pillow, Kim Kai-ssi. Don't pretend it isn't."

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes as Kai protested violently, but also moved conspicuously closer to the dancer; and if his hand happened to find its way under the pillow on Kai's lap, no one said anything about it.

"And," Suho called eventually, "Time!"

Baekhyun and Chanyeol separated then, both breathing heavily. Chanyeol's lips, especially, were swollen and red and slightly shining where Baekhyun's tongue had lingered. He was also blushing, and Tao was amused to point out that the Park boy's face was basically the same color as his mouth. Chanyeol muttered a flustered "Shut up, Tao," and wasted no time in resuming the game, turning attention away from himself to ask Baekhyun "Truth or Dare?"

"Uh," Baekhyun faltered, still in Chanyeol's lap and still sort of lost to the world. Chanyeol, it turned out, was a far better kisser than his lifestyle might suggest, and Baekhyun was having a hard time not pulling the other boy close for Round 2. "Truth, I guess?"

Though it seemed hardly possible with the amount of blood already pooled in Chanyeol's cheeks, he blushed even more furiously. "How was it?"

Tao coughed out a laugh that he hid in Suho's shoulder and Chanyeol rephrased his question to ask, "I mean, how'd I do?"

Baekhyun wanted to coo at his friend and maybe pinch his cheeks for being so bashfully adorable. He didn't though because Baekhyun thought that if Chanyeol's face got any redder the other boy might possibly combust. "Very hot," he conceded, now almost totally recovered and smirking mischevously.

"Hot to watch, too," Sehun informed Chanyeol, just in case he and Baekhyun had been too distracted by each other to hear the comment when he made it the first time.

"Oh my god," Kai whined--though it might also have been a breathy moan as Kyungsoo's hand continued it's magic under the pillow--"Just hook up already." He gestured vaguely between Sehun, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun. "The sexual tension is killing me."

Tao giggled, this time not even trying to hide the fact that he was laughing at them. "Says you," he teased with a pointed look in Kai and Kyungsoo's direction.

Once again he was told "Shut up, Tao," though it was Baekhyun who said it. "Anyway," he continued like everything of the past five minutes hadn't happened. "It's my turn, yes?" No one answered, but the question had been rhetorical anyway and Baekhyun wasn't bothered.

"Truth or dare?" He asked, grinning wickedly as he slid off Chanyeol's lap and into the space next to him. "Chanyeol?"

"Dear god, why?" Chanyeol was so done with this game.


	4. Just Right

Baekhyun stared. He was still grinning quite horribly, eyebrow raised and clearly undeterred by Chanyeol's reluctance to continue playing. "Truth or dare?" Baekhyun repeated.

"Ugh," Chanyeol groaned. "Fine, fine. Truth."

Baekhyun clapped his hands together with glee; clearly this was what he'd wanted. "Why'd you pick me?"

Welp. Chanyeol had really set himself up for that one but he still wasn't prepared to answer the question. Noticing this, Tao reminded him helpfully, "No take backs." Chanyeol decided he really didn't like Baekhyun's friends.

"I'm not exactly experienced," Chanyeol admitted shyly, looking down at the floor and twisting the hem of his tshirt as he spoke. "What if I was a bad kisser?"

"You weren't," Baekhyun reassured Chanyeol far too quickly. His honesty piqued Sehun's interest but no one else seemed to notice the moment and Sehun let it pass.

"But what if I was?" Chanyeol practically whined. The tips of his ears turned pink again. "With you at least there was no expectations. If I picked Sehun," he faltered over his crush's name and didn't dare look to the other side of the room where Sehun sat watching the exchange, "And I was a bad kisser, that would have just been awful."

The room was silent for half a second as its occupants processed this. Suho spoke for everyone--well, everyone who wasn't Sehun or Baekhyun--when he declared, "Lame. You could have made out with the guy you're into and you didn't." He rolled his eyes, evidently unimpressed with Chanyeol's decision making skills. "I'm done with this game."

"Oh thank god," Kyungsoo agreed. He shook his head, rearranging his bangs to hang properly across his forehead, and clasped his hands together. Kai made a sound of discontent but he was ignored as Kyungsoo suggested "Movie?"

"Please," Chanyeol begged. "Please let's watch a movie." Everyone laughed and Chanyeol's shoulders visibly lowered once Baekhyun stood up to find the remote. Finally he could relax.

Unfortunately for Chanyeol, though, his relief was short lived. Baekhyun, after discovering the elusive remote stuffed deep into the cushions of his and Kyungsoo's couch, tossed the device to Kyungsoo, shut the lights off in the living room, then settled himself back into Chanyeol's lap. Everyone had shifted a little to get comfortable for a more long term activity, and there was plenty of room left on the floor next to Chanyeol where Baekhyun had moved right before the game finished. In other words there was really no plausible explanation for Baekhyun's seat on Chanyeol's thighs, but the smaller boy merely shot Chanyeol a crooked smile when Chanyeol made a sound of surprise. No one else noticed, or else no one said anything.

"You're comfortable," Baekhyun whispered into Chanyeol's ear some minutes into the start of the movie Kyungsoo had selected on Netflix. To get close enough for Chanyeol to hear him without disturbing everyone else's peace Baekhyun had to turn into Chanyeol's chest, place a steadying hand against the fabric of his tshirt, and stretch his neck so his lips brushed the crevices of Chanyeol's ear. "And we make a nice fit," he added thoughtfully. "Don't you think?"

Thoughts of other parts of him which might fit well with Baekhyun came unbidden to Chanyeol's mind and he gulped, hoping against hope that Baekhyun wouldn't be able to feel his body's involuntary response to those thoughts. No such luck.

Baekhyun chuckled, lightly, then ducked when a pillow flew his way courtesy of Kyungsoo. "Flirt on your own time," Kyungsoo grumbled like he hadn't seen this particular film at least once before. Baekhyun laughed again but this time kept his amusement to silent huffs into the skin of Chanyeol's neck where his face was still pressed from when he'd spoken earlier.

"He's just mad no one dared him to make out with _his_ crush," Baekhyun informed Chanyeol knowledgeably.

Something about that struck Chanyeol and suddenly he froze, body stiffening under Baekhyun to the point where the smaller boy could actually feel Chanyeol tensing up.

"You good?" He wondered curiously. The movie was long forgotten by this point but Baekhyun couldn't seem to care. Not when Chanyeol looked right at him and asked "His crush?" like he completely understood the implications behind Baekhyun's verbal slip-up.

Baekhyun tried to change the subject, even going so far as to turn back to the movie and try to slip off Chanyeol's lap. He was surprised by the strong arms which slid around his waist to keep him still in Chanyeol's lap, and even more surprised by the press of warm lips to the space between his neck and his ear. Chanyeol was kissing him. Voluntarily.

"Nuh-uh," Chanyeol murmured. His breath on Baekhyun's neck was shiver inducing but Baekhyun thought he'd felt a hint of Chanyeol's erection earlier and tried not to squirm too much at the sensation when Chanyeol kept talking. "You like me?"

Baekhyun sighed but nodded. "I like you like Kyungsoo likes Kai, yes," he admitted. "And like you like Sehun."

"I'm not so sure I do like Sehun," Chanyeol whispered against Baekhyun's neck, pressing a kiss against the pulse there. "Or I do but maybe not exclusively? Because I'm definitely starting to like you too."

His grip on Baekhyun's waist tightened and he pulled the smaller boy flush against his chest. Evidently Chanyeol in the safety of Netflix and darkness was much bolder than the Chanyeol who hid behind his studies and made awkward confessions during party games. This Chanyeol was much more like the one who'd surfaced when Baekhyun had kissed him, and this Chanyeol was someone Baekhyun really, _really_ liked. Baekhyun had seen this side of the other boy when no one else had bothered, and it was unbelievably exhilarating to be the one to bring Chanyeol out of the shell he'd built to protect himself. Baekhyun had silently liked Chanyeol for so long, in fact, that he wasn't even strictly bothered by the idea that he wasn't the sole owner of Chanyeol's feelings. Chanyeol liking him even just a little bit was far more than Baekhyun had imagined possible; so what if the only reason Chanyeol maybe liked him at all was because Baekhyun wasn't a horrible kisser either. Baekhyun decided he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Right now he just wanted to revel in the heat of Chanyeol's hands on his waist and the touch of Chanyeol's lips to his skin. Actually, what Baekhyun really wanted was to kiss the other boy again and when he turned his head to do so, he was pleased to feel Chanyeol eagerly kissing back.

Behind him--and through the haze of Chanyeol's tongue in his mouth and Chanyeol's lips on his--Baekhyun could hear Suho and Tao chortling over the movie. Apparently Kyungsoo had selected a comedy--not that Baekhyun had been paying enough attention to notice. Kyungsoo was just as enthralled and Kai was whining softly about the lack of attention he was getting. Sehun seemed to be the only one who even realized that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were kissing again, though that might have been because he'd been quietly observing the two since the dare. Evidently he liked what he saw because he pulled Kai's attention away from bothering Kyungsoo to comment offhandedly, "You know, I wouldn't have minded."

Kai seemed confused so Sehun clarified. "If Chanyeol had picked me."

That Kai understood. "He seems like a bomb kisser, at least," he agreed, petulantly tossing the words in Kyungsoo's direction and hoping to get a rise out of the extremely focused older boy.

Baekhyun pulled away from Chanyeol, smirking when the taller boy blushed as heavily as he was breathing and hid his face in Baekhyun's shoulder. "He is," Baekhyun reiterated smugly. "And Sehun," he called out after a moment, ducking again when Kyungsoo tossed another cushion at him for disturbing the peace, "Give me a few weeks to break him in and I'll get back to you about letting him kiss you."

Chanyeol flailed his arms a little in righteous indignation. "I'm not a toy!" He squawked loudly. "You can't just pass me around whenever you want!"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "Chill, Chanyeol. I'm just joking." He caught Chanyeol and Sehun's expressions as both fell a little in obvious disappointment. Well, obvious to Baekhyun at least. "Maybe."

"I'll say this again," Kai interrupted the grin that spread over Baekhyun's face and the tentative smile and shy peck that Sehun and Chanyeol gave the smaller boy respectively. "Please just hook up already. The sexual tension is _legit_ killing me."


End file.
